Col. William N. Selig, the Man Who Invented Hollywood

By Andrew A. Erish

Publication Year: 2012

Refuting virtually every previous account of the founding and development of the American motion picture industry, this entertaining biography pays tribute to a pioneer whose many innovations helped to create Hollywood as we know it today.

Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

I first learned of Col. William N. Selig when I read Kevin Brownslow's
enthralling history of early cinema, The War, the West and the Wilderness.
Mr. Brownlow’s nonpareil contributions to film scholarship continue to educate
and inspire. I am especially grateful for his selfless guidance, remarkable
resources, formidable knowledge, and gracious endorsement of this effort...

Abbreviations

Introduction: The Forgotten Pioneer

The Academy Awards ceremony held on March 20, 1948, honored
what were deemed the best films released in 1947. The event also celebrated
the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences. The occasion inspired Academy president Jean Hersholt to
spearhead an effort to formally recognize the founders of the American film...

1. The Birth of a Motion Picture Company

William Nicholas Selig (pronounced see-lig) was born on
March 14, 1864, at 10 Kramer Street, Chicago, Illinois, to Joseph Franz and
Antonia (Linsky) Selig, the fifth of eight children. Selig’s father, a shoemaker,
hailed from Bohemia, his mother from Prussia. Not much is known of “Willy”
Selig’s early years except that his German-speaking family was poor and...

2. Making Westerns in the West

William Selig was among the few pioneering filmmakers to
produce actuality (documentary) films in the West at the turn of the twentieth
century. The choice of images and the methods for producing these films
formed the basis for Selig’s narrative Westerns, for several years distinguishing
his production style and content from those of all other filmmakers. However,
just as his Westerns would eventually result in a legacy of influence that...

3. The Creation of the Movie Cowboy

The western was of primary importance in establishing physical
action as a defining characteristic of the American motion picture industry. In
contrast with the Western melodramas of competitors such as Essanay and
Lubin, which featured relatively sedate protagonists, not to mention Pathé
Frères, whose “Westerns” were an object of derision in the United States, the...

4. Selig in Eden: The Genesis of Movies in Los Angeles

During November-December 1907, Francis Boggs directed
A thousand-foot version of Alexandre Dumas’ nineteenth-century international
best seller, The Count of Monte Cristo. With its title shortened to Monte
Cristo, the film was actually a fourteen-minute adaptation of highlights from
the popular theatrical version of the novel, which continued to be performed...

5. Selig’s Cinematic Jungles and Zoo

Whereas William Selig's engagement with developing the
essential properties of the cinematic Western seems to have been deliberate,
his development of another motion picture genre, the jungle-adventure film,
seems to have been almost accidental. The company frequently referred to
these films as “Jungle-Zoo Wild Animal Pictures,” and they would for years...

6. Leading the World

Selig's success wasn't merely the result of cultivating a more
dynamic form of cinema; just as important was his establishment of a London-based
distribution center that would eventually reach into every corner of the
world. Ironically, Selig’s worldwide dominance would ultimately contribute to
the demise of his company...

7. Actualities, Expeditions, and Newsreels

Throughout most of the silent era, actualities was the term
used for films that would later become more commonly known as “documentaries.”
During the first decade of American commercial cinema, actualities
were more widely produced than narratives.1 They were easier and cheaper to
make than narrative films, which required a storyline, actors, props, and usually...

8. The Development of the Feature Film

During the first fifteen years of commercial American cinema,
most films were no more than fifteen minutes in length—a single, thousand-foot
reel.1 This was partly because projectors could accommodate only one
reel at a time. In addition, a full reel’s approximately fifteen-minute running
length mimicked the duration of the average small-time vaudeville act. Smalltime...

9. Exiled from Eden

William Selig reached the pinnacle of his success with the
release of The Adventures of Kathlyn and The Spoilers in 1914. The popularity
of his jungle-adventure films, which resulted in the construction of one of the
world’s largest private zoos and first movie theme park, as well as the international
success of the Tom Mix Westerns, all contributed to Selig’s high standing...

Conclusion

More than a century has passed since William Selig led the
motion picture industry to Los Angeles. So many of the things he initiated or
was instrumental in developing are so intimately woven into the fabric of the
movies that a complete accounting of his accomplishments is all but impossible.
Thus it doesn’t seem all that far-fetched to suggest that commercial films
made after Selig owe something to him, though it’s doubtful if anyone involved...

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